Languishing Love Letter
by inuzrule
Summary: Karin knew that there was a huge age difference [of course, when she got older, five years wouldn’t matter so much]. And there was obviously the unspoken taboo of dating your brother’s friend…but the only opinion Karin really cared about was Chad's.


**Languishing Love Letter **

"Ne, Chado? How do you say "love" in Spanish?"

"Hmm? Why do you want to know?"

"No reason! I just need to know."

Kurosaki Karin sat at the kitchen table, pouring over a book called "Beginner's Spanish: Learn to Speak with Ease!" She diligently took notes, but every so often would frustratedly erase something with such force that the paper almost tore.

"Where'd ya get the book?"

"Friend lent me it. Will you PLEASE tell me how to say love in Spanish?"

"To love is 'amor'. Anything else?"

"What does 'querida' mean?"

"Dearest. It's really just an affectionate term. 'Querido' is for guys."

"What's handsome?"

"Um...'guapo' is a pretty common term. What is all this for anyways? You don't take Spanish."

"It's...it's personal. Besides, I'm gonna take it next semester! Might as well get a head start, right?"

"I guess." Chad sat down next to the girl. She had really grown over the years. Already she was fifteen, while he was twenty. He carefully peered over her shoulders to read what she was writing. Karin quickly snatched the page out from underneath his nose.

"You can't look!" Her eyes flashed dangerously, and he knew she meant business.

"...something wrong, Karin-chan?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. Don't call me Karin-chan, for the fifty-millionth time!"

He nodded in assent, but internally surpressed a smile at her antics.

Two minutes later, she was at it again, asking for words like strong, silent, and kind, to which he replied that they were "fuerte", "cazurro", and "bondadoso". She scribbled these down, ever studious. Chad wondered how she would react if he offered to privately tutor her in Spanish. Would she consider that offer, or would she think he was implying that she couldn't learn on her own? It was often hard to gauge Karin's reactions, even if one had known her for several years now, and researched all that they could about her.

Oh well. The only thing to do was to bite the bullet and ask, preferably sooner than later. The worst she could do was yell at him or get angry, and he had to admit...she was cute when she was yelling her head off. And sometimes, if he maintained a straight face throughout the verbal lashing, Karin would blush ever so slightly, make a "hrumph"ing noise, and turn her back on him.

"Okay, last word: how do you say forever?"

"It's 'para siempre'. 'Para' meaning for, and 'siempre' being always. For always."

"Arigato, Chado. Could... could you leave me alone for a while?"

"Eh? Why?"

"I, um, have something to do. I'll be fine. Just leave me alone for a bit."

Chad gave Karin a very strange look, but grunted slightly in an agreeable way, and backed out of the room.

As soon as he was gone, Karin let out a great sigh, partly out of relief, partly out of disappointment. She enjoyed his company very much, but she needed to keep this a secret. She didn't even know if she was going to reveal to him what she was writing, it was so embarrassing. And what if something had gotten mistranslated? She agonized over her work.

Only a few minutes after Chad had left the room, Yuzu came in through the front door, dressed to the nines, slightly wind-tossed, and wearing a suede jacket that obviously belonged to someone else…say, a guy.

"I'm home!"

"In here."

"What're you working on? Homework?"

"It's nothing! How was your date?"

Yuzu's eyes took on a bright glow, even brighter than normal, and her cheeks flushed. "It was great! Jinta's so sweet!" Yuzu did a slight twirl and let out a sigh of happiness. Karin smiled benevolently at her sister, but inwardly wished that she could be like that. Acting on her feelings and all, instead of being so goddamned secretive.

Of course, Karin knew that there was a huge age difference (of course, when she got older, five years wouldn't matter so much). And there was obviously the unspoken taboo of dating your brother's friend…but the only opinion Karin really cared about was Chad's.

"Karin, was Sado-kun here?" Yuzu called inquisitively from where she was rummaging for leftovers in the fridge.

"Eh? How'd ya know? By the way, he still is here."

"I just guessed. Where is he? He's almost always out with Ichigo, or he's hanging around you."

"He's in the other room. Why don't you go say hi?"

"Don't you want to know about my date?"

"Later. I've got a foreign verb conjugation to figure out."

"So, what is that? Why are you hiding it?"

"It's none of your business!"

"So…it's not homework, but it's in another language. It's not something you'd want anyone to see…I've got it!" Here Yuzu dramatically pounded her right fist into her left palm. "It's a love letter to that new transfer student! The cute Iranian!"

"…"

"I'm right, aren't I? Aren't I?"

"…I can never pull one over you, sis."

So, happily, Yuzu traipsed into the next room, hoping Sado-kun would like to hear about her delightful evening, leaving Karin to muddle out the correct tense of "tener".

It was very late in the evening when Chad decided to leave. Yuzu had gone up to her bedroom already, reminding him helpfully that the two older males of the household probably wouldn't be in before 2 am if they were lucky, and wishing him a good night. Chad decided to check in on Karin.

As he opened the kitchen door and poked his head in, he noticed that the incessant scribbling and scratches from Karin's writing utensil had ceased, and that her head was down. Approaching her cautiously, he realized that she was not weeping, but simply napping. Her head was resting on her textbook, and her hand lightly held onto her pencil, the arm dangling by her side. Her other hand covered a greatly abused piece of paper, the same one she had been writing on.

Curiously, though wary if Karin were to wake up, Chad pulled the paper out from underneath the hand, and peered at the faltering words.

It was a love note, except in Spanish…and addressed to him. Chad's Spanish was a little rusty, but he could translate somewhat, even noticing the small errors within.

After he had read to his heart's content, he carefully replaced the note. Gently, he kissed the top of Karin's sleeping head. She looked so peaceful when she was asleep, as opposed to the tough-girl expression she sported whilst awake.

"Karin, I know it's hard, but wait a while longer. I promise, I'll stick it out for you."

For a minute he just stood there, watching her as she slept, half hoping she'd wake up, even though he knew she needed her rest. Finally he settled for softly ruffling her hair and using his own jacket as a makeshift blanket.

At least it'd give him an excuse to come back tomorrow, he thought, as he quietly closed the door behind him.

---

_Author's Notes: Augh! I can't write for stoic Mexican/Japanese hybrid boys:bangs head on keyboard:_

_Sorry. I just can't seem to get my head around writing Chad. And he's one of my favorites, too! Also, please pardon the horrid excuse for Spanish. I got all terms from an online translator, since my Spanish is so rusty._

_And now, some facts: I own nothing, ChadxKarin is adorable, and drugs are bad. STAY IN SCHOOL!_


End file.
